Rangers player ratings in Scottish Premiership showdown v Hearts
Rangers finally returned to Scottish Premiership action on Saturday afternoon (01 October) making the trip to take on Hearts at Tynecastle.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst had many decisions to make after the international break, with the decision to drop Alfredo Morelos for Antonio Colak taking most of the headlines.
The Croatian was on fire in the opening 45 minutes, scoring twice before Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent put the icing on the cake in the 4-0 win in the final 20 minutes.
Ibrox News rated the players out of 10 below…
Allan McGregor – 6
The stopper literally had nothing to do for the majority of the game. McGregor made a couple of simple saves early on and kept his distribution simple after the red card.
James Tavernier – 7
Calm. The skipper was constantly available for the ball and with little pressure on, he rarely had to whip in a cross as he could just keep the ball – an easy outing in the end, topping it off with the perfect assist for Morelos.
Connor Goldson – 7
A monstrous figure at the back with Lawrence Shankland getting little to nothing in the final third due to his dominance, a brilliant warm-up for that trip to Anfield.
Ben Davies – 7
His yellow card was the only blip in a very strong 45 minutes before being substituted at the break. His ability to read the game and make simple interceptions certainly stood out.
Borna Barisic – 6
Similar to Tavernier, Barisic was never really needed to cause problems in the final third but stayed solid defensively and whipped in a couple of dangerous crosses – something he has really taken to another level this year.
Ryan Jack – 7
The midfielder is really getting back to his sharpest, something that has been missing for quite some time now as he dominated in midfield and kept it ticking on and off the ball.
John Lundstram – 8
Another walk in the park for the boss, who hardly broke a sweat in controlling this one physically yet again. Hearts could not deal with him as they moved forward and that was clear.
Scott Arfield – 5
The playmaker will be scratching his head at how he didn’t find the back of the net, missing a simple chance after doing all of the hard work, and then seeing another goal disallowed. That final product will be needed in other games from that attacking role, it will come.
Rabbi Matondo – 8
Much, much better. The Welsh speedster was unreal down the right and could not be handled, leading to moments of frustration like Cammy Devlin’s challenge which led to that red card – this has to continue now.
Ryan Kent – 8
Another assist onto the tally to silence all of those critics who want more involvement from the winger, with his cross perfect for Colak’s opener. After that, it was all about him with his step inside and finish simply sublime to top off his brilliant afternoon.
Antonio Colak – 9
Wow, is there a better finisher in Scotland right now? Even Morelos will be taking notes at times with the Croat turning into the perfect poacher in games with another couple of brilliant finishes. Long may that continue.
Substitutes: Alfredo Morelos – 7, James Sands – 6, Malik Tillman – 5, Steven Davis – 6
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